Human touch “Get me something to stop the bleeding!” were the first words to come spilling out of David Yow’s mouth as his recently reunited Jesus Lizard tore into the first song of their triumphant set last Saturday night at the Paradise.

Dirty old men "We were kind of just . . . normal guys who liked to . . . enjoy stuff."

Human touch “Get me something to stop the bleeding!” were the first words to come spilling out of David Yow’s mouth as his recently reunited Jesus Lizard tore into the first song of their triumphant set last Saturday night at the Paradise.

Dirty old men "We were kind of just . . . normal guys who liked to . . . enjoy stuff."

Wandering stars The line between art and entertainment gets thicker and darker every time someone opens a Facebook account. Most of us music types are entertainers, because entertainers just want attention.

Spring fever As action-packed as the holidays are, they can be a real dead zone when it comes to decent shows.

Stroke of genius Julian Casablancas is in control, for better or worse. Better, in the sense that he is finally seeing the release of his debut solo album, Phrazes for the Young (RCA), in which he steps out of the stripped-down style of the Strokes — his blockbuster unit for the past decade — and unveils a kaleidoscopic world of lush dreamscapes, arpeggiated classicism, and haunting balladry.

Review: Julian Casablancas at the Paradise Casablancas's solo debut, Phrazes for the Young (RCA), is a bizarre and twisted romp through sophisticated musical stylings that, especially in a live setting, sound light years away from the compact garage minimalism of early Strokes. This was evident from the first notes of the show.

Odd men in When Beyoncé, in a recent Guardian interview, pegged Georgia art weirdos Of Montreal as a group with whom she'd love to collaborate, the real weirdness was in how sensible it all seemed — as pop music has gotten skronkier and more fuzzed-out, indie rock has slowly molted its hatred of the mainstream and started to display the very flamboyance and hook worship it once held as anathema.

Review: La Roux at the Paradise "I could have been singing this at the Grammys — but I'm here with you tonight," declared Elly Jackson, the public face of La Roux, with a detectable dash of annoyance folded into several dollops of playful sarcasm.